Who wants to be a cyborg? Quite a lot of people it seems

By Ian Barker
Published 3 years ago

Would you be willing to have technology implanted in your body? A survey by marketing and communication tool Tidio reveals the extend to which people are open to 'biohacking'.

More than 75 percent of respondents say they are willing to implant a microchip for health monitoring, and 57 percent are eager to go further and transfer their consciousness to a machine or a different body and live forever as cyborgs.

There's less agreement on whether cybernetic enhancements should be freely available. 42 percent think they should only be available to restore body functions lost to accidents or diseases.

The most desired enhancements include health monitoring microchips (39 percent), cybernetic eyes that can take pictures and recordings (37 percent), and optic nerve interfaces projecting images directly into the brain (32 percent). The least desired modification -- although we can see the attraction -- is a pleasure device that brings euphoria at the push of a button (18 percent).

People clearly believe that this is coming, with 56 percent of respondents thinking that cybernetic implants will become a widespread technology during the second half of this century. Younger respondents are more receptive, as many as 74 percent of Generation Z respondents like the idea of upgrading their bodies with cybernetic enhancements, but only 64 percent of Millenials and 55 percent of older respondents agree.

Almost 70 percent of Raspberry Pi/Arduino owners are open to hacking themselves and declare they would inject a microchip implant on their own with a DIY kit if they were widely available.

You can read more on the Tidio blog and in the infographic below.